I know the Shad season isn't open until May 16th but I was wondering if any folks have advice on chasing Shad on the fly from the bank on the Columbia?

Certain spots I should scope out? Certain flies? I hear that it's a blast... I'd love to get out after work for a bit over the next 5 weeks and get into some fish. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

I know the Shad season isn't open until May 16th but I was wondering if any folks have advice on chasing Shad on the fly from the bank on the Columbia?

Certain spots I should scope out? Certain flies? I hear that it's a blast... I'd love to get out after work for a bit over the next 5 weeks and get into some fish. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

You probably have 4-5wks before the numbers are enough to go target them. You want to wait until there's around 100,000 counted over Bonneville per day to go. Then, just go find some bank access and run some slipstream jigs or shad darts until you get your depth dialed.

It's a toss up for me to drive to The Columbia or The Umpqua to fish for shad. The Umpqua isn't nearly as large so I lean more that direction.

We consider shad on the fly as the poor man's tarpon. They are a blast! They are not native to the NW rivers but I've never read that they are causing harm to the native fish. Which is a good thing. They were originally planted in the Sacramento River by a guy who brought them from the East Coast via rail.